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1988 BMW R80 RT Gets Low and Mean as Custom Vagabund V08 Project

Historically, Harley-Davidson has always been at the center of customization projects conducted by shops all over the world. But we bet BMW Motorrad had no idea its older bikes would prove just as appealing for the European custom scene.
Vagabund V08 16 photos
Photo: Vagabund
1988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V081988 BMW R80 RT Vagabund V08
There are on the Old Continent a number os shops than breathe new life into BMW motorcycles of old. French Blitz, Spanish Bolt or Austrian Vagabund are just a few of them, perhaps the most visible.

The build featured in the gallery above if one coming our way front Austrian Vagabund. It’s called V08 in the garage’s speak, and once was a 1988 BMW R80 RT. But no more.

This particular model did not have a long production life. After it was introduced in 1982 as a slimmed down version of the R100 RT, it got pulled in 1995, after a bit under 30,000 units of it were made.

For the custom industry, the R80, just like the R100, is godsent. This particular one got tweaked to the extreme in the purest Vagabund style, while at the same time remaining street legal, at least in Austria.

Riding on the original wheels, only powder-coated, it sports a new rear frame and a cut front fork (shorter by 60 mm). On top of the frame sits a modified fuel tank taken from a BMW R75/5, a custom leather seat, and a triple clamp with integrated Motogadget speedometer.

The engine is the same one originally used by the motorcycle, only “serviced.” That is a 798cc powerplant good for around 50 hp and 59 Nm of torque.

We are not told how much the motorcycle cost to build, but it is featured on Vagabund’s website as already sold. And that’s no surprise, as most of their project are listed the same way.

For full details on the Vagabund V08 you can hit this link.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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